From ‘Made in China’ to ‘Made in Internet’
The concept of “Made in Internet” was introduced by Jack Ma, Chairman of Alibaba Group, at the 2017 Global Netrepreneur Conference held in Hangzhou, capital of east China’s Zhejiang Province, on July 11.
“Made in Internet,” according to Ma, is the overall progress in technologies, operations, products and services that industries and companies of all types can realize in the new retail era by using the Internet, and thereby ultimately reach out to consumers across the world.
It is a significant step forward by the manufacturing industry during the upsurge in consumption upgrading and supply-side structural reform. If “Made in China” built the first stage for the Chinese manufacturing industry to go global, “Made in Internet” will push it forward to a new level of “intelligent manufacturing” and make significant changes in three aspects.
First, supply-side change from “big” to “small.” For a long time, Chinese companies followed traditional industrial era value, which pursued a big scale, large quantity and big investment. However, in the era of the Internet, this value can’t meet the demand of the younger generation for consumption upgrade. To satisfy the increasingly individualized and diversified demand, flexible and tailored production has become a trend. This gives small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) an obvious advantage as it is easier for them to change their business orientation.
In recent years, supported by e-commerce platforms, big data, cloud computing and augmented reality, networked manufacturing has helped SMEs gain new advantages in lowering costs, raising productivity and enhancing creative power.
Second, upgrading from “cheap” to “excellent”. China is now among the world’s top trading nations, but most of the products it exports are on the lower end of the international industrial chain. This is a severe handicap that Chinese exporters must address. With the Internet, a producer can better understand consumer demand, analyze related data and innovate to transform the supply chain and improve resource allocation.
In this way, a villager in a remote mountainous area in northwest China can demonstrate products to consumers via ecommerce platforms and then readjust the product structure according to orders, realizing integration of production, demand and supply. SMEs can realize intelligent production via “Made in Internet” and better produce, as well as more rapidly produce, the products global consumers need.
Third, the supply chain transformation from “top-down” to “down-top”. “Made in Internet” will inevitably change the traditional supply chain process featuring “top-down” into a technology- driven organizational structure characterized by “down-top.” In this regard, the vast rural areas will face huge opportunities.
In recent years, e-commerce platforms such as Taobao.com have intensified their coverage of rural areas, encouraging more rural residents to use the Internet to sell their farm produce. The Internet is hence closely connected to agricultural production and farmers’ lives, facilitating large-scale agricultural production and business startups by farmers.
From big to small, from cheap to excellent, and from top-down to down-top, “Made in Internet” will become a strong powerhouse for supply-side structural reform. Faced with this trend, any hesitation to join it will make us miss the bus. In this “Madein-Internet” era, only with good plans and preparation can we gain more opportunities to transform the traditional manufacturing industry.